Knowledge, attitude, and practice of Iranian nurses towards pressure ulcer prevention: A systematic review

Pressure ulcer (PU), as a long-term disabling condition, is an important indicator for patient safety and quality of nursing care in hospitals. This systematic review aimed to evaluate the knowledge, attitude, and practice of Iranian nurses towards PU prevention.

A systematic search was conducted on PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus databases, Google Scholar Search Engine, as well as Magiran, Iranmedex, and Scientific Information Database (SID) Persian databases using the relevant keywords, from the earliest date available to August 21, 2020. Studies were appraised using the appraisal tool for cross-sectional studies (AXIS tool).

Among a total of 1,543 Iranian nurses included in the 9 studies, 80.53% were female with a mean age of 31.14 (SD = 5.52) years. The mean work experience of the participants was 7.94 years (SD = 5.44). The knowledge and practice of Iranian nurses toward PU prevention were insufficient and relatively desirable, respectively. Also, the present study showed that nurses' attitudes toward PU prevention were contradictory. Age, gender, level of education, work experience, and participation in previous educational workshops were possible factors related to nurses' knowledge about PU prevention. Women with higher work experience had a more positive attitude.

This review found inappropriate knowledge, attitude, and practice of Iranian nurses toward PU prevention and highlights the importance of regular upgrading of nurses' knowledge and practice related to PU prevention.